SESSION RECORDING · WEDNESDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2026 · JOB 40:1–42:17
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Job had put his hand over his mouth (Job 40:4–5). He was silent, but not yet broken: quiet is not the same as submitted. So the Lord speaks again from the storm with a new challenge: if you want to judge the world, show Me you have the power to do it. Can you subdue My creation? This session covers God’s second speech, the Behemoth and the Leviathan, Job’s second reply, and the last chapter of the book, where Job is restored. With it, we finish the Book of Job. Use these notes with the recording: read each passage first, then the notes, then the questions at the end.
Reading Plan
| Passage | Speaker | Main point |
|---|---|---|
| Job 40:1–5 | Job | Recap: Job’s first reply, “I put my hand over my mouth” |
| Job 40:6–14 | The Lord | Can you execute justice? Justice needs power |
| Job 40:15–24 | The Lord | Behemoth, the “super beast” |
| Job 41:1–34 | The Lord | Leviathan: can you make it your pet? |
| Job 42:1–6 | Job | “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you” |
| Job 42:7–17 | Narrator | Job the servant and intercessor; the Lord restores him double |
Outline of the session
- Silent but not submitted: the state of the heart (Job 40:1–5)
- Can you subdue My creation? Justice requires power (Job 40:6–14)
- Behemoth (Job 40:15–24)
- Leviathan, and what it points to (Job 41:1–34)
- Job’s second reply: from hearing to seeing (Job 42:1–6)
- Job restored: servant, intercessor, blessed double (Job 42:7–17)
1. Silent but Not Yet Submitted (Job 40:1–5)
Job’s first reply was right in words: “I am unworthy… I put my hand over my mouth” (Job 40:4–5). Until we are silenced before God, He cannot do in us and through us what needs to be done, and God works in us through character. But Job was not quite broken. A person can go quiet and still resist inside: no words, yet you can feel the resistance. God knew Job had not yet learned the lesson; deep down he still felt self-righteous and wanted God to answer him.
Lesson: Always check the state of your heart. Quietness on the face is not surrender in the heart. To surrender is to die to self and let go.
2. Can You Subdue My Creation? (Job 40:6–14)
“Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his?”
Job had accused God of being unjust in the way He treated him and of failing to judge the wicked. So God answers: very well, put on majesty and splendour, unleash your wrath, humble the proud and crush the wicked, “then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you” (Job 40:10–14). Justice cannot be carried out without power, and no human being has that power. Only God searches the heart (Jeremiah 17:9–10).
Lesson: Even in this life, justice without power cannot bring justice. Before we accuse God of judging wrongly, we must remember that only He has both the right and the power to judge.
3. Behemoth (Job 40:15–24)
God chose two of His finest creatures and asked Job to consider them. The first is Behemoth, a word meaning “super beast”, usually understood as the hippopotamus. “Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you” (Job 40:15): God made both the beast and the man, and made them different.
Behemoth and man compared
- It eats grass and is strong; Job ate fine food and was weak (Job 40:15–16)
- Its bones are like bronze and iron; man’s body is easily damaged (Job 40:18)
- It lies at ease among the reeds while the hills bring it food; man must toil for his bread (Job 40:20–22)
- A raging river does not alarm it; who can capture it (Job 40:23–24)?
The question behind it: if you can capture and subdue this creature, then I will believe you have the power and wisdom to judge the world justly.
4. Leviathan (Job 41)
Then the Lord speaks of Leviathan: “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook?… Can you make a pet of it like a bird?” (Job 41:1–5). Lay a hand on it and “you will remember the struggle and never do it again” (Job 41:8). The Hebrew root of the word means to twist or coil. The word describes a great sea creature (Psalm 104:25–26), usually read here as the crocodile.
A casual reading may leave us thinking these are only animals, and crocodiles and hippos can be captured today. Read with the Holy Spirit and comparing Scripture with Scripture, the Bible uses the same names for something far greater:
Leviathan and Rahab elsewhere in Scripture
- Satan, the serpent: “Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent” (Isaiah 27:1); “that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan” (Revelation 12:9)
- Egypt and Pharaoh: at the Red Sea God “crushed the heads of Leviathan” (Psalm 74:13–14); Pharaoh is “the great monster lying among your streams” (Ezekiel 29:3–5)
- Rahab, the proud one: “by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces” (Job 26:12; Job 9:13; Psalm 89:10; Isaiah 51:9). The King James Version reads Rahab as “the proud”.
- The storm on the lake: Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” (Mark 4:39), with the same word He used to cast out a demon (Mark 1:25). On the other shore He met the man with a legion of demons, and the demons went into the pigs and into the sea (Mark 5:13).
“Nothing on earth is its equal, a creature without fear. It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.”
The plagues of Egypt were judgments on Egypt’s gods, many pictured as water creatures. Leviathan is king over the proud: behind pride stands the enemy, and no sword, spear or arrow of man can touch him (Job 41:26–29). God was asking Job: if you cannot stand before Leviathan, how will you stand before Me?
Lesson: You cannot make Satan your toy, and you cannot master the forces behind pride, money or sin in your own strength. You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain” (Psalm 127:1); “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6).
5. Job’s Second Reply: From Hearing to Seeing (Job 42:1–6)
“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
This time Job’s reply comes from the heart. He confesses that God can do all things, that he spoke of things he did not understand (Job 42:2–3), and he repents. Until now Job’s knowledge of God had been indirect and impersonal; now he had met God personally and seen himself as dust and ashes. He withdrew his charge that God was unjust: whatever God does is right, and we accept it by faith.
Lesson: Move from hearing about God to seeing Him (toka kwa kusikia, ingia kwa kuona). A real encounter with God ends shallow religion. The door of repentance opens into the hall of joy.
6. Job Restored (Job 42:7–17)
How the book ends
- Job the servant: God calls him “my servant” (Job 42:7–8). Job served God by enduring suffering without cursing Him, and so silenced the accuser.
- Job the intercessor: God was angry with the three friends for not speaking the truth about Him. Job forgave them and prayed for them (Job 42:8–9).
- Restored when he prayed: “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10).
- Double: twice the livestock (Job 42:12), and ten more children, seven sons and three daughters (Job 42:13). The teacher noted that this too was double: ten with God and ten at home.
- His daughters: Jemimah (dove), Keziah (cinnamon) and Keren-Happuch (a jar of eye paint), the most beautiful in the land, with an inheritance like their brothers (Job 42:14–15).
- A full life: Job lived 140 more years and saw four generations, and died “old and full of years” (Job 42:16–17), like Abraham (Genesis 25:8), Isaac (Genesis 35:29) and David (1 Chronicles 29:28).
Lesson: We only hurt ourselves when we refuse to forgive. Many wait for God to bring the key of blessing while they are sitting on it: forgive first, then pray for those who hurt you.
Lesson: Do not misread the last chapter. Not every trial ends with every problem solved, every hurt forgiven and everyone living happily ever after. Some situations end differently. But God always writes the last chapter, and He restores, rights our ways and teaches us through it.
The Grand Lesson
“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.”
Job’s greatest blessing was not regaining his health, wealth, family and friends. It was knowing God better.
- Suffering in the will of God is a ministry God gives to a chosen few, like Paul, to whom He said, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
- “You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (James 5:11).
- Discipline is painful at the time, but later it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those trained by it (Hebrews 12:11).
- God is God: He does not make mistakes, and no one can call Him to account. Be patient with God.
Note
- The aim of all this study is maturity. Pray not to remain an infant in the faith, tossed back and forth (Ephesians 4:11–14).
- Be careful of strange new teachings spreading on social media; test everything by the Word (Matthew 24:24).
Conclusion
“God always writes the last chapter.”
- We have finished the Book of Job. Like Job, may we move from hearing about God to seeing Him, and trust Him to write the end of our story.
- Read Job 40:4–5 and Job 42:1–6. What is the difference between Job’s first and second replies?
- Why does God link justice with power in Job 40:8–14?
- How do Isaiah 27:1, Psalm 74:13–14 and Job 41:34 help you understand Leviathan?
- Is there someone you need to forgive and pray for, as Job did in Job 42:8–10?
- Has your knowledge of God moved from “hearing” to “seeing” (Job 42:5)? What would help it grow?
Thank God for what He has taught you through the Book of Job. Ask Him to humble any hidden pride, to help you forgive those who have hurt you, and to grow you into a mature believer who knows Him personally.
Next session: a thorough revision of the whole Book of Job, then the exam. Do not miss the revision: it is the key to the exam. After the exam the class begins the Song of Songs, continuing in January after the break.